Say ya to da UP eh?
Down here UP refers to the “University of Palermo,” a not-so-highly-respected alternative to the free University of Buenos Aires.
In Chile, it means Union Popular, Allende’s leftist government ousted on September 11, 1973 by the military coup that installed Augusto Pinochet Ugarte in power. (Did those of you in the US hear about Colin Powell’s statement that the US was “not proud” of its role in these actions? His comments were big news in the Chilean papers a few days ago, hailed as “Powell’s mea culpa.”)
But for me, UP will always refer to the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where I spent my youth.
Growing up in Houghton, I learned not to talk politics. The perfectly friendly woman selling you a pack of gum at Jim’s Foodmart probably was so right-wing that she would be a political freak in any of the nation’s large cities. “Fear the government that fears your guns” was the most popular bumper sticker in town at the time I left.
The second most popular was probably “Say ya to da UP eh?” but it was followed closely by “The Gay Bar” bumper stickers. The Gay Bar was merely the town bar of Gay, Michigan. People put the stickers on their trucks as a joke – it was so obvious that nobody in town was actually gay that everybody could get a hearty laugh out it.
Which would be just fine and dandy except that plenty of people are gay in the UP.
I remember when I was a senior at Houghton High School, a school which, to my knowledge, nobody openly gay had ever entered. I had a couple friends who were frequent targets of homophobic slurs. One day they were being harassed in study hall and decided to mess with the situation, so they kissed quickly.
Horrified, somebody ran out of the room to the principal’s office, announcing that “there ‘a couple of faggots kissing” in the multi-purpose room.
The administration’s reaction was to call my friends in to the office and threaten them with the mysterious discipline of putting the incident on “their permanent records.”
Nothing was done to any "permanent records," of course, but I wondered what sort of message the administration’s actions were sending to Houghton High students who were in the process of coming to terms with being gay. I went to chat with the principal about this, and to my surprise, he agreed with my suggestion that 10% of the students in his school might well be gay. (At the time I myself doubted the truth of this statement, and had thrown it out simply to make a point.) But he told me his job was to keep the peace between “the Nazis” and the rest of the students. Keeping this peace, apparently, required maintaining an anti-gay stance.
These days, that unhealthy peace is finally being disrupted. Ted Soldan, a former Boy Scout leader, is challenging Michigan Technological University’s policy of funding the Copper Country United Way. Soldan has pointed out that the public university officially adheres to an anti-discrimination policy, but its funds are going to the Boy Scouts, an organization that bans gay boys.
The local scouts adhere to the national policy. In the words of a local scouting official, “I would say the policy is based on the moral perception of the majority of people involved in scouting.” As an Eagle Scout, that doesn’t make me feel too great.
Ted’s crusade may seem like a small issue – there isn’t much money involved – but in Houghton it is not. It has become the latest public test of Houghton’s tolerance. So far the news is not terribly encouraging. Ted has been subject to scorn and ostracism. The local Daily Mining Gazette has taken the trouble to write an editorial criticizing him. (Scroll down a bit to find it.)
A former university professor wrote a letter to the editor saying that “I don’t think excluding gays is any different from excluding girls.” (Use your browser's find feature to bring up "Soldan.")
In an early article on the issue, I think Ted’s son Steven points out why this is not the case: “Most kids who turn out to be gay don’t know they’re going to be gay when they join the Boy Scouts in sixth grade and the rejection can be devastating.” Steven is gay and an Eagle Scout.
The Gazette is holding an online poll on the matter today – you might go there and vote. We're still behind, but catching up. You might also be interested in reading more articles on the matter (searching for "Soldan" brings up 3 more hits than "Chirac," and only 1 less than "Blair"). When you're done, search for "peace" and read about what's wrong with it.
In Chile, it means Union Popular, Allende’s leftist government ousted on September 11, 1973 by the military coup that installed Augusto Pinochet Ugarte in power. (Did those of you in the US hear about Colin Powell’s statement that the US was “not proud” of its role in these actions? His comments were big news in the Chilean papers a few days ago, hailed as “Powell’s mea culpa.”)
But for me, UP will always refer to the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where I spent my youth.
Growing up in Houghton, I learned not to talk politics. The perfectly friendly woman selling you a pack of gum at Jim’s Foodmart probably was so right-wing that she would be a political freak in any of the nation’s large cities. “Fear the government that fears your guns” was the most popular bumper sticker in town at the time I left.
The second most popular was probably “Say ya to da UP eh?” but it was followed closely by “The Gay Bar” bumper stickers. The Gay Bar was merely the town bar of Gay, Michigan. People put the stickers on their trucks as a joke – it was so obvious that nobody in town was actually gay that everybody could get a hearty laugh out it.
Which would be just fine and dandy except that plenty of people are gay in the UP.
I remember when I was a senior at Houghton High School, a school which, to my knowledge, nobody openly gay had ever entered. I had a couple friends who were frequent targets of homophobic slurs. One day they were being harassed in study hall and decided to mess with the situation, so they kissed quickly.
Horrified, somebody ran out of the room to the principal’s office, announcing that “there ‘a couple of faggots kissing” in the multi-purpose room.
The administration’s reaction was to call my friends in to the office and threaten them with the mysterious discipline of putting the incident on “their permanent records.”
Nothing was done to any "permanent records," of course, but I wondered what sort of message the administration’s actions were sending to Houghton High students who were in the process of coming to terms with being gay. I went to chat with the principal about this, and to my surprise, he agreed with my suggestion that 10% of the students in his school might well be gay. (At the time I myself doubted the truth of this statement, and had thrown it out simply to make a point.) But he told me his job was to keep the peace between “the Nazis” and the rest of the students. Keeping this peace, apparently, required maintaining an anti-gay stance.
These days, that unhealthy peace is finally being disrupted. Ted Soldan, a former Boy Scout leader, is challenging Michigan Technological University’s policy of funding the Copper Country United Way. Soldan has pointed out that the public university officially adheres to an anti-discrimination policy, but its funds are going to the Boy Scouts, an organization that bans gay boys.
The local scouts adhere to the national policy. In the words of a local scouting official, “I would say the policy is based on the moral perception of the majority of people involved in scouting.” As an Eagle Scout, that doesn’t make me feel too great.
Ted’s crusade may seem like a small issue – there isn’t much money involved – but in Houghton it is not. It has become the latest public test of Houghton’s tolerance. So far the news is not terribly encouraging. Ted has been subject to scorn and ostracism. The local Daily Mining Gazette has taken the trouble to write an editorial criticizing him. (Scroll down a bit to find it.)
A former university professor wrote a letter to the editor saying that “I don’t think excluding gays is any different from excluding girls.” (Use your browser's find feature to bring up "Soldan.")
In an early article on the issue, I think Ted’s son Steven points out why this is not the case: “Most kids who turn out to be gay don’t know they’re going to be gay when they join the Boy Scouts in sixth grade and the rejection can be devastating.” Steven is gay and an Eagle Scout.
The Gazette is holding an online poll on the matter today – you might go there and vote. We're still behind, but catching up. You might also be interested in reading more articles on the matter (searching for "Soldan" brings up 3 more hits than "Chirac," and only 1 less than "Blair"). When you're done, search for "peace" and read about what's wrong with it.
previously there was Ladies First
afterwards you have danger
Gregg Shields, BSA Spokesperson
National Headquarters Boy Scouts of America
PO Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079
Thanks and best to all of you. Ted Soldan [submitted on 28 Feb 03]
By this point in my life I'm lucky enough to have chosen friends and influences that work to eschew these anti-everything attitudes, and in my ignorance I've been considering setting up somewhere after I'm done here at school in a more rural place where housing is cheap, the landscape is pretty, and the weather is cold and temperate. Unfortunately many of the locales in the US that meet these criteria are places in which shielding one's self from from the rhetoric you describe is nearly impossible. There's the U.P., there's Utah, there's northern California, there's Rhinelander (currently hiring two librarians and in the job announcement offering free optional Hodag innoculation), there's the college I went to where a librarian or two has expressed a desire to hire me, where one of the residence halls is So-And-So R. Gay Memorial Hall, where the annual dorm t-shirt usually says on the back, "Mom and Dad, it's just the name of a guy." [submitted on 28 Feb 03]